Swindon woman conned out of £75,000 by rogue builder who left her with collapsed ceiling
ITV News Meridian's reporter Ciaran Fitzpatrick learns more about how a rogue builder conned a woman from Swindon out of thousands of pounds
A woman from Swindon who was conned out of £75,000 by a rogue trader says his sub-standard work left her with a collapsed ceiling, and her son sleeping in a mouldy bedroom.
Jane, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, hired Kerry Sharland to build a new kitchen, bedroom and bathroom for her family.
She is one of four couples who fell victim to his substandard work, before he was convicted in August 2024 of fraudulent trading and given a two year suspended sentence.
Jane was left with no option but to fork out £100,000 to fix it.
After two weeks of work on the house, Jane said he began to give excuses for not turning up to work, or claimed tradespeople were delayed.
"Nobody's free, I'm ill, the wife's ill..." she said. "It was just one thing after another to begin with, we kind of gave him the benefit of the doubt."
For months, Jane said almost nothing was done, and then she realised she was being fooled.
"It was like an epiphany, it's the only way I can describe it.
"He'd been stringing us along the whole time," she said.
By winter, heavy rain and snow had caused the ceiling to collapse with wheelie bins and buckets used to collect dripping water inside the house.
"You couldn't even really feel comfortable going out for the day because you had to be in to empty the buckets," said Jane.
"You don't realise the stress, the pressure it puts you under. It's just takes over your life..."
A new firm had a look at the work, describing it as 'the worst attempt at construction they’d ever seen.'
Jane was told she needed around £100,000 to fix the substandard work, meaning she’s now spent in excess of £175,000.
The work on her home is nearly complete and she's hoping to have it all sorted by Christmas.
But she fears in order to claw any cash back, she'll have to sell her home as she hasn't had any money back yet.
What to do if you are a victim of substandard work or rogue builders?
Harry Kind, from consumer advice service 'Which?' says it's vital to "get it right" from the start when you employ a builder.
He shared its top tips with ITV News Meridian:
Get a trader who has been reviewed through a reliable service
Get multiple quotes and ask about other work they have done. It may be helpful to get in touch with previous clients to learn more about what they did
Have as much in writing - get a contract from the builder so you can compare what was promised versus what was delivered
Pay by credit card as you can make a claim with the bank under Section 75, which may help you claw back some money - perhaps as much as £30,000
Be on the look out for anything that may be 'too good to be true.' This can be in terms of cost, timescale or being pressured to sign something you're not comfortable with
Kerry Sharland, Director of KS Building & Renovations Limited, was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court on 29 August following an investigation by Swindon Borough Council’s Trading Standards team.
The 50-year-old admitted to a charge of fraudulent trading under the Companies Act 2006. The case involved four couples who signed contracts with Sharland to do various building work for them. Another couple like Jane had their ceiling collapse.
Sharland’s two-year prison sentence was suspended for two years and he was given 220 hours of community service as well as 15 days of rehabilitation.
He was also disqualified from being a director of a company for seven years.
His honour Judge Taylor told Sharland that his conduct had been “a nightmare” for the householders affected and that the work was done so poorly “substantial amounts (of money) were needed to rectify this work”.
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